Action Needed on NM Mine Due to Cancer

GRANTS, N.M. (AP) — Western New Mexico residents say federal officials need to either move the tailings from an abandoned uranium mill near Milan or relocate the owners of about 75 nearby homes.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that residents told a top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official Tuesday that a cluster of cancer cases in subdivisions near the Homestake Mining Co. uranium mill show a need for immediate action by the agency.

They pointed to a draft EPA report published this month showing that residents near the mill face a cancer risk 18 times higher than that considered acceptable by the EPA.

More than a decade has passed since uranium ore was mined in New Mexico, but a Canada-based company and a Japanese partner proposed this year reopening a mine near Grants.